{"id":588379,"date":"2024-06-18T10:41:52","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T17:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=588379"},"modified":"2024-06-18T12:49:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T19:49:44","slug":"olympic-trials-day-4-prelims-katie-ledecky-katie-grimes-lead-1500-finals-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/olympic-trials-day-4-prelims-katie-ledecky-katie-grimes-lead-1500-finals-qualifiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Trials Day 4 Prelims: Katie Ledecky, Katie Grimes Lead 1500 Finals Qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olympic Trials Day 4 Prelims: Katie Ledecky, Katie Grimes Lead 1500 Finals Qualifiers<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To no one\u2019s surprise, the distance queen, Katie Ledecky, <\/strong>continued her dominance, finishing with the top time in the prelim session of the 1500-meter freestyle. Ledecky held control throughout the entirety of the heat touching in a 15:39.73.<\/p>\n

She took out the race in a surprisingly fast first split of 58:91. She settled into the swim with consistent splits of 1:02.84, 1:03.20, 1:03.12, 1:02.58, 1:02.77, 1:02.69, 1:02.82, 1:02.82, 1:02.99, 1:03.36, 1:03.68, 1:03.22, 1:02.80, 1:01.91<\/p>\n

Ledecky has already punched her ticket to Paris individually in the 400- and 200-meter freestyle and as a contributor to the newly crowned team of Paige Madden, Erin Gemmell<\/strong> and Claire Weinstein<\/strong> for the women\u2019s 4X200 meter freestyle relay.<\/p>\n

Weinstein, who was also slated to compete in this event this morning scratched the event.<\/p>\n

Katie Grimes<\/strong>, a distance superstar in her own right, returned to action this morning, diving in for the 1500 as the second seed in the event, dominated her heat and finished in a time of 16:10.13, solidifying her spot as the second seed.<\/p>\n

She swam her race with splits of 1:01.34, 1:04.20, 1:04.41, 1:04.65, 1:04.81, 1:05.45, 1:05.09, 1:05.41, 1:05.40, 1:05.33, 1:04.55, 1:04.09, 1:05.40 1:05.49, 1:04.51<\/p>\n

Grimes had a stellar performance last night, qualifying for the 400-meter IM; making her the first woman in history to qualify for pool and open water events in the same year. She missed qualifying for the 200-meter freestyle, for both the individual and relay spots.<\/p>\n

Erica Sullivan<\/strong>, and Mariah Denigan<\/strong> battled it out during their heat for times of 16:25.33 and 16:22.28, to reach the final. Denigan has already qualified for the Paris Games in the 10k.<\/p>\n

This year’s NCAA Champion, Abby McCulloh<\/strong> touched the wall in 16:30.65.<\/p>\n

Pan American Champion, Rachel Stege<\/strong>, took to the water and touched the wall with a time of 16:15.59 and will be seeded third going into the final.<\/p>\n

Open water 2020 Olympian, Ashley Twichell<\/strong>, took to the water at the age of 35. Even so, she is coming into the final at the Olympic Trials with a time of 16:18.06.<\/p>\n